Frei Otto, awarded the Royal Gold Medal this year by the Royal Institute of British Architects, is one of Germany’s most innovative architects in the second half of the 20th century.
He taught at the MIT in Cambridge before founding an internationally renowned Institute for Lightweight Structures in 1964. Frei Otto’s systematic research of a lightweight and adaptable construction, his early dedication to environment and ecology as well as his impressive personality turned him into an outstanding architect. His works offer an inexhaustible source of inspiration and reflection.
Amongst his main works are the German Pavilion for the 1967 World Exhibition in Montreal, the roof for the Munich Olympic Stadium (in collaboration with G. Behnisch), the IBA’s ecological houses in 1985 in Berlin, numerous tent-like constructions for Saudi Arabia, as well as temporary tent and membrane structures, including one for the Pink Floyd tour in 1978. He also collaborated on the Japanese Pavilion for the EXPO 2000 in Hanover, and the project for Stuttgart’s main railway station.
In this volume, prominent authors analyse and discuss the key aspects of Frei Otto’s work. In addition it contains an extensive and detailed catalogue of over 200 buildings and projects dating from the years 1951–2004.